Machine for marking cylindrical articles



G. s. THOMPSON.

MACHINE FOR MARKING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2, I921.

Patented Aug. 9, 19121.

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I -1 J5 3 njj 3 3 113 i WITNESSES G. S. THOMPSON, MACHINE FOR MARKING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2|19ZI.

L 92 1H 9 w mmfi Mn 0% m k m a @N P -HME 2 1i 8 6 8 3 a 11 //V VE/VTOR G. s. THOMPSON. MACHINE FOR MARKING CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 2,1921. 1,86,8l2n Patented Aug. 9, 1921.

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enonen s. rrroNrsoN, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 'ro a ming Q MATTHEWS & COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A COOTION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE non IVI 2- 1i. ING- CYLINDRICAL anrfotns.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 9, 1921.

To all wlpom it may concern:

Be it known that l, GEORGE S. THOMPSON,

' residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in. Machines for Marking Cylindrical Articles, of which improvements the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for marking cylindrical articles. I have developed it ina machine for printing legends upon powder kegs, and I shall describe the machine so developed as an embodiment of the invention; but it will be understood that theinvention is applicable to machines for marking cylindrical articles generally, without limitation as to size, material, or purpose served by the articles marked, and to machines for marking gen-,

erally, without limitation to printing specifically.

' lln the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view in side elevation of a machine of my invention for printing legends on powder kegs; Figulll is a view of the same machine in end elevation; Fig. H1 is a view in plan from above; and Fig. IV is a view in longitudinal and vertical section on the plane indicated by the dotted line IVIV, Fig. III, showing a detail of construction.

In a suitable 'bed 1 are journaled two parallel shafts 2 and 3 which carry concentric work-sustaining surfaces. stance these surfaces conveniently take the form'of drums 4, a pair of drums being rigidly mounted on each of the two shafts, and the drums upon the two shafts being conveniently arranged one opposite another, as shown.

A shaft 5, conveniently journaled in bed 1 parallel with and intermediately placed between shafts 2 and 3 constitutes the power shaft. It may be rotated in any suitable manner; the drawings show a crank 6, by which shaft 5 may be manually rotated. Suitable provision is made for rotating drums 4 in uniform direction in response to rotation of shaft 5. This interposed mechanism conveniently consists of a countershaft 7 journaled in frame 1 parallel with and adjacent shaft 5, of intermeshing pinions 8 and 9 carried byshafts 5 and 7, of sprocket In this inwheels 10 and 11 carried by shafts 7 and 2 and 3, and of sprocket chain 12 engaging the sprocket wheels.

The dotted circle K in Fig. I indicates the outline of a powder keg to be marked, placed in the machine in position for marking. It rests, be it observed, by gravity on the four drums 4 and as they turn (in uniform direct1OIll.I1tl-OlOCkWlS6, say) the powder keg turns (clockwise) at a peripheral speed equal to that of drums 4.

Pivoted in suitable bearings in frame 1 (conveniently on shaft 2) so as to swing in a plane perpendicular to the cylindrical axis of powder keg K when in place, is a lever 13. The upwardly extending arm of lever 13 carries the printing wheel 14 (thelever 1s, to that end, preferably bifurcated, as best shown in Fig. 11) the downwardly extend ing arm of lever 13 is engaged by leverswinging instrumentalities. A spring 15 anchored to frame 1 and secured to the lower end .of lever 13 tends always (the parts being assembled as shown in Fig. I) to cause the lever to turn on its pivot in anti-clockwise direction. A cam 16 keyed'to shaft 7 engaginga link 17 connected to the lower end of lever.13 is efi'ective, as shaft 7 turns,

intermittently to swing lever 13 clockwise (Fig. I) against thetension of spring 15.

Link 17 it will be observed extends in diametrical line with respect to shaft 7 accordingly it is slotted, as shownin Fig. I, to

reetion, the printing Wheel 14 is remote and kegs may be removed and replaced,

Rotation is imparted from shaft 5 to planting wheel 14 through suitable instrumentalities. Explanation has already been made,

that shaft 2 (upon which lever 13 conveniently is pivoted) is rotated through certainv described instrumentalities fron shaft 5. Shaft 2- may be provided witha s rocket Wheel 19 and printing wheel 14 may e pro vided with a sprocket wheel 20, and a 1soprocket chainf21 may be provided engaging The several pinions and sprocket Wheels now described (8, 9, 10, 11, 19, and 20)'or their equivalentsare advantageously so proportioned as to accomplish these several .ends; (1) Equal peripheral speed of the two rotating members, the kegand the printing wheel. This is an essential condition, and it is brought about under circumstances which equal diameter with the kegs to be marked,

and accordingly of somewhat smaller diameter than printing Wheel 14; they turn the kegs at equal peripheral speed with themselves. Accordingly they turn at the same peripheral speed with printing wheel 14, and therefore at a carefully calculated and faster rate of rotation. (4) Shaft 5 turns through two rotations to effect one complete rotation of printing wheel 14.

Mounted for cooperation with the marking drum 14 is an inking device; it appears in Figs. I and III of the drawings, arranged to the right of drum 14, and bears the general reference numeral 22. It is carried, as

keg in turn has been marked and when the will be seen, on a bracket borne by lever 13.

This inking device is of a style already well known, it is incidental merely tomy invention, and I therefore do not describe it in detail. Sufiice it to remark of the'inking device that-it includesfeeding rolls which,

as indicated in Fig. I, may be driven by the same sprocket chain 21 which turns drum 14. Means may be provided for the arrest of rotation at a suitable moment, after each printing wheel has receded from tangency wlththe keg. In this connection it may be remarked that, a fifth conditionof mechamcal structure is advantageous, namely (5), that shaft 7 shall rotate once while shaft 5 rotates twice, and accordingly that the rate of rotation of shaft 7 and of printing wheel 14 shall be identically the-same (the rate of rotation of shafts 2 and 3 being, as has already been said, somewhat faster.

.These means for arresting rotation however lend themselves peculiarly to a hand drivenmachine; .if power were applied to drive the machine other or additional braking or stopplng mechanism would preferably be employed. The provision of suitable mechanism (once the need for it is indicated) will readily be adopted by an engineer enga ed in designing a machine.

llVith the hand driven machine illustrated, a simple and convenient stopping mechanism consists of a notched disk 23 keyed to shaft 7, and a lever 24 provided with a detent 25'. The lever is so weighted that it tends always to swing in a direction to bring the detent into engagement with the notch in the periphery of disk 23. The de-' tent always bears upon the periphery of the disk, and with the completion of each rotation of shaft 7 it enters the notch and stops the machine. Lever 24 may be swung manually to release the lock and to allow the rotating parts to turn again.

Operation is as follows: ideginning with the machine in locked position, with detent 25 in engagement with the notch in the rim of disk 23, cam 16 is, at that moment in the course of rotation of shaft 7, bearing upon roller 18 in the end of link 17; is exerting tension through link 17 and is holding lever 13, against the tension of spring 15, in 'its retracted position, with printing wheel 14 swung to the right (Fig. I) and free of tangency with keg, K. The parts being in this position, a keg K already marked "may be removed and may be replaced by another and unmarked keg. When the unmarked keg has been placed the operator will first swing lever 24, unlocking shaft 7; he then will turn shaft 5. and in so doing will set in motion all the correlated parts described above. The following motions will then'be achieved in sequence: (1) Keg and printing wheel will begin toturn at equal peripheral'speed and will continue to turn through one complete rotation'of the printing wheelsomething more than one complete rotation of the keg. (2) Soon after rotation begins the high part of cam 16 will pass from engagement with roller 18 of link 17 spring 15 will then .become effective to swing lever 13 and to bring printing wheel 14 to bear with suitable pressure upon keg K. The tangencyso established will continue through one complete rotation of the keg. Meanwhile the inking device will function, and

the wheel will impart to the keg one complete impression from the type or printing face with which its periphery is equipped. (3) At the completion of one complete rotation of the keg while in tangency with the printing wheel, the high part of cam 16 will come again into engagement with roller 18 of link 17. and immediately lever 13 will swing clockwise (Fig. I) and the printing wheel will be retracted from the keg. (4) Detent 25' will then fall into the notch in disk 23 and the machine will thus be brought to a stop. The now marked keg may be removed, and the cycle of operation repeated.

As I remarked at the beginning the powder-keg marking machine now described is but one embodiment of my invention; the

invention is applicable to the marking of cylindrical artlcles, regardless of size, and to the application of marks to thearticles, whether by printing or otherwise. The in.- vention, it will be understood, is not limitedto details of mechanism, and will be practised inthe use of instrumentalities drum, by virtue of such reciprocability of its bearings, being movable to and from a position of tangency with an article of given size resting upon said stationary bearing s, the said printing drum being of greater circumference than the article with which I, it is adapted to make contact as aforesaid,

means for rotating all of [said drums continuously and in uniform direction and atequal surface speeds, and for reciprocating said printing drum at predetermined intervals as rotation progresses, the reciprocating feature of the means last named efiecting reciprocation of the printing drum from and return to such position of tangency' with an article under treatment, during so much of a rotation of the printing drum as the interval by which its circumference exceeds the circumference of the article under treatment.

2. In a machine for marking cylindrical articles, means for causing an article to be marked to rotate on its cylindrical axis, a mark-imparting rotary cylinder of greater diameter than said article, means for rotating said cylinder in opposite direction to and at equal peripheral speed with the article,

means for causing the cylinder to bear tangentially as rotation progresses upon the article, intermittently acting means for withdrawing said cylinder from such tangency, and locking means becoming effective in sequence after the cylinder-withdrawin means last defined, substantially as describe In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE S. THOMPSON. Witnesses:- I

' JAs; H. MATTHEWS,

HENRY G. LErrEn'rs. 

